Powered surgical devices include electronic components, such as printed circuit boards, switches, sensors, etc., to enhance the control of functions of the surgical devices. The intelligence of such surgical devices result in a higher product cost compared to currently available disposable units. Accordingly, it would be beneficial if such intelligent devices are reusable.
For example, surgical devices in the form of surgical stapling apparatus are employed by surgeons to sequentially or simultaneously apply one or more rows of fasteners, e.g., staples or two-part fasteners, to body tissue for the purpose of joining segments of body tissue together and/or attaching a surgical implant to body tissue. Disposable surgical stapling apparatus are used to perform various stapling functions in surgery, such as performing anastomosis of tubular body structures (e.g., the colon, the stomach, the small intestine, etc.) in an end to end, end to side, or side to side manner. Once the procedure is complete, the device is discarded. Reusable surgical stapling apparatus are also used to perform various stapling functions in surgery, and the use thereof may result in lower cost of a procedure over the life of the device.
Powered surgical stapling apparatus include electronic components to monitor and facilitate functions, such as clamping, stapling, and/or cutting forces of the device. For example, load reading sensors can be used to detect pre-set loads and cause the device to react to such a response. For instance, during clamping of thick tissue, the load will rise to a pre-determined limit where the device can slow clamping to maintain the clamping force as the tissue relaxes. This allows for clamping of thick tissue without damage to such tissue (e.g., serosa tears).
Reusable surgical devices must be cleaned and sterilized prior to subsequent uses. Cleaning and sterilization procedures, however, are aggressive in nature. Cleaning (e.g., washing and/or disinfecting) utilizes alkaline solutions having high pH values (e.g., a pH of 11). Autoclaving (a common method of sterilization) utilizes high pressure superheated steam (e.g., 30 PSI@160° C. for 20 minutes). Such environments are known to damage various electronic components. For example, surgical devices may suffer from moisture ingress during cleaning and/or sterilizing procedures which, in turn, may corrode and/or degrade the electronic components.
The electronic components of reusable surgical devices may be protected from high temperatures, steam, and/or moisture by utilizing, for example, conformal coatings, potting, sealed enclosures, and/or overmolding. The electronic components, however, may still suffer from moisture ingress during cleaning and/or sterilizing procedures (e.g., cracking or delamination of conformal coatings), and/or may be damaged during application of the protective materials (e.g., heat damage during sealing of enclosures).
Thus, it would be beneficial if the durability of the electronic components is enhanced to improve the reliability of the electronic components and/or extend the effective cycle life of the surgical devices.